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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

[CA] San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi shows no intention to leave his position willingly, so Mayor takes action

..."He has chosen not to resign and now I must act," [San Francisco - Mayor Ed] Lee said... He said the sheriff's actions "fell below the standard of decency and good faith" needed for public officials...

MAYOR SAYS HE'LL SUSPEND MIRKARIMI AS SHERIFF
San Francisco Chronicle
Rachel Gordon
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
[Excerpts] San Francisco - Mayor Ed Lee is suspending Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi from his post, the first step toward removing him from office permanently for official misconduct. "He has chosen not to resign and now I must act," Lee said in a 5 p.m. news conference today. He said the sheriff's actions "fell below the standard of decency and good faith" needed for public officials. Mirkarimi pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment for an incident involving his wife on New Year's Eve. Lee named Vicki Hennessy to serve as interim sheriff... Lee told Mirkarimi Monday afternoon that he had 24 hours to resign voluntarily, but the embattled sheriff, who was elected in November and sworn in Jan. 8, refused the request and will fight the official misconduct charge. "At this time I do not plan to resign," Mirkarimi told reporters gathered outside of his office this afternoon, less than an hour before Lee's news conference. His voice fraught with emotion and his face bathed in sweat, Mirkarimi said he thought his actions did not constitute official misconduct... He said his top priority was reconciling with his wife [Eliana Lopez], who, because of a judge's order, he hasn't been allowed to see for nine weeks. He sees his son for two hours a day. "It's been cruel. It's been crushing," he said. "Neither she or I understand what has happened"... [Eliana] has disputed the prosecution's assertions that Mirkarimi grabbed her arm and inflicted a large bruise... [LINK]

FROM MONDAY:Sheriff Mirkarimi's statement to the media after he's sentenced on a lesser plea bargained charge:

Apologies were a part of the plea agreement

CONTRITION ACCOMPLISHED? SAN FRANCISCO SHERIFF MIRKARIMI: 'NOT THE PERSON I THOUGHT I WAS'
Mercury NewsJulia Prodis Sulek
03/19/2012
[Excerpts] ...Moments after San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi was sentenced on a domestic violence charge Monday, he apologized to his family and community, saying he was "ashamed and deeply sorry" for his behavior... But the sheriff's contrition before a phalanx of reporters in the hallway outside the San Francisco courtroom was "too little, too late" for domestic violence victims' advocates. They renewed their call for his ouster. "That trust is broken, and I don't think a few comments today, as happy as I am to hear them, are enough to show any real remorse," said Beverly Upton, executive director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium. Perhaps the most important person Mirkarimi needed to convince, aside from his wife and 2-year-old son, is San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who has the power to start a process involving the Board of Supervisors that could lead to Mirkarimi's removal from office... On Monday, Mirkarimi said he has been in counseling since the confrontation for "arrogance and anger issues." He also apologized to the domestic violence support community, saying he regrets ever saying that his fight with his wife was "a private family matter." "I will work so much harder to regain the trust I have lost," he said. In the days following that comment, a victims advocacy group raised $4,000 to pay for a downtown billboard that stated: "Domestic Violence is NEVER a private matter." "It shouldn't take a billboard campaign" for the sheriff to recognize the error of his ways, Upton said... Mirkarimi must still abide by the "stay-away" order that bans him from seeing his wife or carrying a gun and imposes limitations on visits with his son. Gascon said it's possible Mirkarimi won't be able to carry a gun until his three years probation is up, but that too will be up for a court to decide. A judge will determine when Mirkarimi has made enough progress in counseling to warrant the reunion with his wife. Lopez has said she loves her husband and wants their marriage to continue. "I know how deeply I have let the people down and am eternally and deeply sorry," Mirkarimi told reporters. "I am not the person I thought I was." [Full article here]

UPDATE:

MIRKARIMI'S WIFE, SON CAN TRAVEL TO VENEZUELA
San Francisco Chronicle
Rachel Gordon
Saturday, March 24, 2012
[Excerpts] Suspended San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, has agreed to forgo visits with his son so his wife [Eliana Lopez] can take their child [] to Venezuela for a month to help care for her ailing father. Mirkarimi, with his wife's consent, petitioned the San Francisco Superior Court for a modified visitation schedule. Judge Ronald Albers signed the order Friday... Lopez's father recently suffered a recurrence of cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy in Venezuela, according to her attorneys... Mirkarimi "will endeavor to complete as many counseling sessions as possible... "It is the mutual intention of (the couple) to begin marital counseling as soon as they are able" once Lopez returns to San Francisco, the couple told the court in Friday's filing. According to court documents, Lopez's desire to visit her family in Venezuela after Mirkarimi was sworn in as sheriff Jan. 8 sparked the New Year's Eve argument that led to his arrest. He didn't want her to take Theo away... [Full article here]

ROSS MIRKARIMI'S WIFE ALLOWED TO TRAVEL WITH SON TO VENEZUELA FOR FIVE WEEKS
San Francisco Examiner, Bay City News
03/23/12
[Excerpt] ...On Wednesday, Mayor Ed Lee suspended Mirkarimi without pay on official misconduct charges, which will be considered by the city's Ethics Commission at a upcoming hearing. The commission will then make a non-binding recommendation to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which would need nine of the 11 supervisors to approve the charges for Mirkarimi to be removed from office. Before being suspended, Mirkarimi said, "I do not believe that the conduct that I have taken responsibility for constitutes official misconduct" and said he looks forward to arguing his case with the Ethics Commission and Board of Supervisors. [Full article here]